Fox ready to launch its multi-sports channel

(MCT) — Though America is hardly clamoring for another all-sports network, we're getting one anyway, when Fox transforms Speed into a multisport channel dubbed Fox Sports 1 at 6 a.m. EDT on Saturday.

The Fox Sports 1 menu includes college football (including Big 12 and Pac-12 games), college basketball (those conferences, the Big East and others), Saturday Major League Baseball games starting in 2014, a daily NASCAR show at 4:30 and Sprint Cup races in 2015, a weeknight NFL program at 6 p.m., UFC matches, soccer (a daily show at 4 p.m. and the UEFA Champions League, plus other matches), high school football and a 5 p.m. roundtable discussion show hosted by Regis Philbin, of all people.

"It's no secret _ we're a huge underdog in this race," Fox COO Eric Shanks said of the competition with ESPN.

But the most intriguing subplot here is that late-night sports TV is about to become far more competitive.

In recent years, among live sports studio shows, SportsCenter's only serious competition at 11 p.m. were niche shows on NFL Network, MLB Network and NBA TV. That's about to change.

Beginning Aug. 26, Keith Olbermann likely will lure some viewers from SportsCenter with his new ESPN2 studio show from 11 p.m. to midnight.

And beginning Monday, Fox Sports 1 hopes to do the same with Fox Sports Live, a nightly three-hour marathon (11 p.m. to 2 a.m.) with highlights narrated by popular Canadian sportscasters Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole, as well as a nightly roundtable discussion that will feature former tennis star Andy Roddick, former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, ex-NBA star Gary Payton and former NFL offensive lineman Ephraim Salaam .

Fox Sports executive vice president Scott Ackerson said: "I don't know if Keith would have been back (at ESPN) if Fox Sports Live and Fox Sports 1 didn't exist."

In some ways, Fox Sports Live sounds suspiciously like the late, not-so-great Best Damn Sports Show Period, a Fox cable incarnation that was too sophomoric and inane to survive long-term.

"Best Damn took a lot of liberties with being irreverent," Shanks said. "We're not going to be scripting comedy with this show." Said Ackerson: "I don't want to sound like we're going to have a clownfest."

Fox is gambling that people will care what Roddick, McNabb, Payton and Salaam have to say about all sports, not just those they played.

The 11 p.m. and late-night editions of SportsCenter set a lofty standard for a highlights show but nevertheless irritate us in some regards. Among SportsCenter's few missteps:

Sometimes prioritizing analysis over news. SportsCenter viewers often are forced to wait longer than they should for NFL, MLB and NBA highlights because ESPN feels obligated to trot out its analysts _ a Rambis here, a Kruk there, a Legler over here _ to explain what we just saw, even though no explanation is usually necessary.

The most egregious examples this year: 1) In January, on a day NFL coaches were hired and Lance Armstrong admitted doping, ESPN _ before reporting any of that _ devoted five minutes to college basketball analysis with Seth Greenberg and Jay Williams. Where's the news judgment in that? 2) Last week, ESPN had multiple analysts opine on Alex Rodriguez's suspension, shedding little new light on the subject, before revealing names of any of the other suspended players.

Excessive coverage of legitimate or manufactured stories, such as Tim Tebow, the season-long obsession with the Lakers and Michael Jordan's 50th birthday, which became a tiresome multipart series. And already, ESPN has begun unsubstantiated speculation on the Lakers' chances of landing LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony next summer.

"The average person watches 20 minutes," ESPN president John Skipper said. "We are ultimately in the business of trying to drive viewership to sell ads. But we are cognizant of not wanting to beat a story to death."

This likely has happened to most viewers: You're waiting for a story that should be coming up shortly _ according to ESPN's on-screen graphic _ only to see it move down the rundown or disappear altogether. Exasperating.

By the end of August, SportsCenter will face more legitimate competition than it ever has. At the very least, it should be interesting to test-drive the new options. Ultimately, Olbermann could end up siphoning more viewers from SportsCenter than Fox Sports Live does.